From Aspirations to Kulhads: How Chai Sutta Bar Became a Youth-Favourite Franchise
In the dynamic world of Indian entrepreneurship, few stories capture the essence of youth creativity, resourcefulness and rapid scaling better than that of Chai Sutta Bar. What began as a modest tea-stall experiment in 2016 in Indore has evolved into one of the fastest-growing tea-café chains in the country — and a compelling case study for aspiring youthpreneurs.
Early Life & Turning Point
Born in 1996 in the Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh, Anubhav Dubey grew up in a middle-class family with expectations to pursue traditional career paths. His father envisioned a government service career (such as the UPSC) or other established routes, but Anubhav’s path diverged when he experienced multiple setbacks in competitive exams and decided to forge his own entrepreneurial journey.
In 2016, together with his friend and co-founder Anand Nayak, Anubhav invested a mere ₹3 lakh to open their first outlet of Chai Sutta Bar on Bhanwar Kua Street, opposite a girls’ hostel in Indore. They leveraged this strategic location and crafted an informal, youth-friendly environment that helped them stand out.
The Unique Concept & Early Marketing
A key reason behind Chai Sutta Bar’s early success was its clever branding and positioning. The name itself — “Sutta”, colloquially meaning “cigarette” in Hindi-slang — evoked edgy youth connotations, even though smoking was strictly prohibited in the outlets. This attention-grabbing name helped the brand become memorable quickly.
The founders borrowed furniture, painted the signage themselves, and offered free tea on day one to draw foot-traffic. They invited friends deliberately to create a sense of buzz and vibrancy, effectively using social proof and word-of-mouth in lieu of hefty advertising budgets.
The product offering was also crafted to hit the young urban palate: tea served in traditional kulhads (earthen cups), multiple flavour options (masala, chocolate, paan, elaichi etc.), and affordable pricing (starting around ₹10) to capture mass appeal rather than premium niche.
Scaling Up: Franchise Model & Expansion
From that one humble outlet, Chai Sutta Bar scaled rapidly. Within a few years the chain expanded to 100+ cities, with over 200 outlets, mostly via franchisee models (about 195 franchisee-run and a handful company-owned outlets) by the time of reporting.
Key mechanics of their growth strategy included:
- A franchise model lowering capital risk for founders while leveraging local entrepreneurs.
- Standardised operating procedures to maintain quality and experience across outlets.
- Supply-chain integration from Indore (master kitchen) plus relationships with 500+ potter families for kulhads (about 3 lakh kulhads procured daily) reinforcing both sustainability and differentiation.
- International footprints: the brand made in-roads to the Middle East (Dubai, Oman) targeting Indians and South-Asian diaspora.
By 2024–25, Chai Sutta Bar reported turnovers around ₹150 crore or more and hundreds of outlets across 190+ cities.
Challenges Faced & How They Were Overcome
The journey was not without hurdles. Entering the food & beverage (F&B) space meant competing with established café chains and navigating varying regional tea preferences across India. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic the business incurred losses (≈₹3 crore in Q1-Q2 FY21) when outlets shut down.
In response, the founders adopted quick-pivot strategies: extending community support (free tea to healthcare and police workers), building their YouTube channel (26,000+ subscribers) to engage digitally, and reinforcing their brand positioning as affordable, youth-centric, and sustainable.
Their ability to adapt, keep costs low, preserve brand identity and maintain culture while scaling rapidly enabled them to ride through crisis and keep momentum.
Why Youth Entrepreneurs Should Take Note
There are multiple lessons for youth-entrepreneurs embedded in this story:
- Identify ubiquitous need, then add twist: Tea is ubiquitous (“everyone drinks chai”), but Chai Sutta Bar made it trendy, youth-friendly and affordable.
- Smart positioning matters: Location opposite a girls’ hostel, playful branding, deliberately starting cheap—all helped the brand resonate with college-aged audiences.
- Bootstrapping is viable: With a modest initial investment and strong ideas, one can launch and scale; heavy initial marketing spending is not always necessary.
- Franchise & scalability-mindset early: From very early on they thought in terms of “how can this be replicated?”—a mindset crucial for scaling.
- Sustainability and community integrate well: Their use of kulhads (clay cups) not only provided eco-credentials but also engaged local artisan families, enhancing brand story and social value.
- Resilience in adversity: The pandemic tested many F&B ventures; their response was to stay agile and keep brand connected with community.
- Young leadership, relatability, and culture: A youthful founding team, relatable branding and a flavourful menu allowed CSB to become much more than “just another tea stall”.
The Road Ahead: Opportunities & Strategic Focus
As Chai Sutta Bar continues to consolidate its presence, the next strategic priorities include deeper pan-India coverage (including Tier-2/3 cities), international expansion into North America/UK/Canada, diversification of menu (food items alongside tea), and enhancing digital engagement (online ordering, delivery partnerships).
Maintaining franchise quality will remain a crucial challenge: when scaling rapidly, brand experience consistency (taste, service, outlet ambience) becomes difficult. Ensuring each outlet continues to feel like the “original” will be important. Also, in the F&B market, competition (both organised café chains and unorganised local tea stalls) remains intense—so CSB’s focus on differentiation and youth-culture must continue.
Finally, leveraging the sustainability angle (kulhads, local potters) can help the brand stand out as socially-responsible, which resonates strongly with younger consumers and franchise partners alike.
Conclusion
The journey of Chai Sutta Bar and its youthful co-founder Anubhav Dubey is a compelling blueprint for what “youthpreneurship” in India can look like today: start small, think big, keep it relatable, stay agile, and reflect authenticity. From just three lakhs of capital to a multi-crore franchise network, this story reminds us that with the right idea, execution and mindset, ordinary beginnings can lead to extraordinary outcomes.
For anyone exploring the franchise space, especially in food & beverage, this tale underscores the power of concept plus culture plus scale. — Finish